|
[Another nerve-wracking bug. Why was this run being as buggy as it was? What set it off? There's plenty of dead ends and empty rooms in the Hideout. Some were flagged for random events or items, different for everyone's onerun. In other ways it helped to facilitate hide-and-stalk survival strategies during Hideout invasions. But this one hall apparently had bad map data, and as soon as the little dark gray @ had moved into a blank tile, a glitched event triggered with a talking skull spouting incoherent dialogue. When it ended and closed, there wasn't any option but to move to a lone pool tile in the corner of the deformed screen, which acted as an unexpected exit point to a new area. But the new map was a true mess of tiles, half of it miscolored as though it was in the Bloody Megalith area, though none of its known ascii symbols. Looks like it was... the lower levels of the Pluto Tower? Or was attempting to grab whatever map data it could find to fill a void space. No choice but to pray to RNG that it didn't fatally crash, and try to find a way out of the map data and back into stability.]
|
#
?
Jan 2, 2021 23:51
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 5, 2024 12:17 |
|
|
OOOF ow ...wh?? You sit up. You leapt down to prod at the pool, but instead of dropping onto smooth stone, you just kept dropping... which turned into a sensation like leaping up, which then felt a lot like being thrown into a wall, before it ended with you on the floor. A wet squishy floor. Eugh. Wet couch cushions. Panic seizes when you realize you just went through that with a chibber in your pack. But checking shows Kwiat as sound, her head poked out of the drawstring hole, staring at you expectantly. You heave a sigh and stand up with her, and thSHIT! You slip and fall down, hard. But the fall is caught with ease by the wet couch cushions. Wet. Swollen. Pulsating.  Oh. Oh no. ANXIETY: [ X ][ X ][ X ][40%] [oooooooOOOHHHHhhh nooo] Your eyes clear, and dart around the room. Square room. Square. But lined with meat. The meat was wet. It was fresh. So warmly wet fresh red. You stand up slower, shaking hand tying your pack tight to hold Kwiat close as you pull your sword out nice and slow. Square room. Dripping fresh. There... THERE! A door. Wet wet door. Oh God the smell was here. It was here. The flesh was bleeding on you, slippery slippery warm. Oh, oh don't. Don't look at that pustule. As big as a dog. No. No. (HT - Don't Do It Not Gonna Do It) 14 - [2]+[5]+[4] = 11 - Success! You gag hard enough to spew out a thick wad of phlegm and a little bile. You heave for air, wet thick smothering meatair, wiping your ey- DO NOT TOUCH YOUR EYES. No no no no no. Don't. Don't. Don't touch a goddamn thing. You walk to the door, shoes squishing down much too deep into the rubber-soft meat. Ohhhh the doorknob was smothered in fat. Thick gooey white fat. Come on. Come on, get out of here. (WL - Gotta Do It) 18 - [1]+[5]+[1] = 7 - Success! You grasp it, teeth clenched to creaking, and twist the knob. The fat sloughs off and squishes between your fingers, popping into a wet chunky mess. You tear the door open with force, hearing meat snapping and ripping from where it congeals around the edges, and charge ou- oh GOD it's MORE MEAT.  OST: Ominous Hallway The smell comes over you in a warming cloud, and it takes all of your terrifying willpower to drive the scent and sensation out of your swimming head. Go. Go. Just go. Just ignore it and go. Where, though? Down the hall. The hall had doors, but they were nearly sealed over with flesh. You step with careful speed, eyes wide and nostrils flared. The end of the hall makes your heart nearly rip itself open with how hard it leaps, when it looks like the stairwell up was sealed off by an enormous bulge of flesh plugged into it. But no, you could see light, and smell clean air! ...through the narrow gap at the very top of the flesh blockage.  You swallow. Ok! Cool. You're going to... maybe just burn it down an- "heelpHELP helppphelp" *WHAM* Flesh to your left shudders violently, as something slams into it with enough force to make Kwiat thrash in her bag. You spin and aim your sword, seeing that one of the side-doors closest to you has been slightly dislodged. What was that voice? It was warm and sickly, as though it spoke through a broken jaw with shredded cheeks. "OUUUUUT GET IT OUToutoutoutTAKEITOUUUUtttt" *WHAM* The door cracks a little. Wood splinters under the sticky flesh coating. The voice on the other side was slurred and worried, despite the horrible strength of its banging. "the oil slippery slippery pleasepleaseplease SUCKLE IT OUUUUUT" *WHAM* A'IGHT! TIME TO GO. You turn and start to climb the flesh hill, but immediately slip and drop back down. It was so slick, with blood and sweat and fat. You have to get out. You look at your sword, and allow your panic to motivate your limbs. You step back, lean down, and make a careful running start to try to clear some of the height. (DX - Running Climb!) 11 - [5]+[6]+[5] = 16 - Failure! The second you try to leap up, you slip on some blood, and SMASH into the soft floor. It doesn't hurt, but you're caked with fresh fresh flesh, wiping warm watery blood from your face. "PPPPPLLEEeeeaaaseEEEITHURTS my blood my blood IT'S IN IT SUCKLE THE OIL SCRAPE IT OUT IT'S EATING MY BLOOD" *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* ANXIETY: [ X ][ X ][ X ][ X ][50%] You can't breathe. The air was too rich with fat and blood. Too warm with meat. You're suffocating, sweating, coated with sickness. You can't climb this, and the- whatever was screaming was halfway done mauling the door off its hinges, flesh loudly ripping. No time. No choice. No hope. Kwiat. You have to save Kwiat. You stand up, and face the flesh. You raise an open hand... and you clench your fist. (!Darkness) 15 - [6]+[2]+[5] = 13 - Success. [-5 HP] Keep it clenched. Keep it tight. With such force that you can feel your arm strain, the muscles tensed to tearing. But not before your gravity tears a different muscle, in the mass of flesh before you. It gives, sinking down as you rip apart ligaments and fats, making it droop in bloody crippling. But it was already straining to tense back into shape and close itself - you run, leap-climbing into the wound, feeling the flesh shudder under your hard shoes as you ascend, while the door behind you shatters open with the following voice screaming, weeping, pleading- "STTttTOOOOOOOOOOP! TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME! TOUCH ME!!!" Don't look DO NOT LOOK there's a tendon in the way but beyond it was stone clean stone cold stone honest stone time it time it time it RIGHT NOW FIST OPEN SWORD OUT AIMED HIGH BROUGHT DOWN (!Tyranny) 17 - [4]+[6]+[6] = 16 - Success. The tendon barely gives. You dive through. The flesh slams close behind you. In blind desperation, you throw your pack to get Kwiat away, into the corner of the stone landing of the stairwell - but with it goes your sword, leaving you unarmed. You stand up to start scrambling away, but something GRABS you with awful speed from behind, something slenderlong strong, wrapped around your neck and chest and pulling you back against the flesh blockage, pulling pulling slamming your head against the soft wet, the voice inside screaming muffled incoherent as it starts the slow labor of pulling you through. You fight mad, but it was much much much too long, much much much too strong. But your arsenal has grown, hasn't it? The cloak around you, Red's love, it gave you blessing. It gave you a PLAN. This meat didn't count- ON YOUR RED RIGHT HAND. You throw your right arm down low into that celestial ichor, scooping a great burning handful up, smearing it into the unseen appendage pulling you. It loosens its killing grip, the screams inside the meat becoming fevered. Not enough. Not enough? Then again. AGAIN, your Red Right Hand. Flesh sizzles and skin pops as the fluid sloshes off, and the second time teaches the thing a lesson as it begins to let go. It starts to pull back into the flesh, letting you free. You... You're mad. God, you're so mad. You turn, eyes blurred from sweat, tears, blood, filth, ichor. But you don't need to see clearly. You could make out the fingery appendages trying to withdraw... and you grab it, with both hands. Hard. You BEND, snapping a joint. You scream, and wrench it harder, kicking the wall of meat trapping your attacker. What was it saying now, muffled inside? You didn't care. It tries to pull away, and you deny it, holding on tight. Again. AGAIN AGAIN, red from the right of your hand. You burn it horribly, still twisting and WRENCHING the joints, tearing and pulling as your screams of fury drown out its sounds. You go mad, biting like a dog, ripping mouthfuls of meat off before spitting it down to stomp on it. You pull so hard that the thing inside gives, the appendage dislocating and going limp. You let go, scramble, and grab your sword. You stomp back and stab the blade into the closed flesh, and you know it struck the thing inside as you hear it cry out. You swear at it, curse it, scream, and then stab in again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. You stop when you have too much trouble raising the sword. You pull it out of the mutilated meat blockage, and collapse back into the corner, grabbing Kwiat to hold her tight as you tremble uncontrollably. ANXIETY: [ X ][ X ][30%] HP: [ 10 / 20 ] FP: [ 8 / 14 ] You're drenched. Absolutely soaked in gore. You stand up, leaning back against the wall when you feel faint. Stiff and slow, you head up the stairs. It was a stairwell going far, far up. (Most of) the lights were on, but it otherwise looks derelict. Parts of it collapsed or near it. One landing reveals a door, a normal one with a glass window, which you peek through. ...a carpeted hallway. Groady looking yellow-brown carpet, with olive-painted walls faded with mildew and time. You stumble out into the hall, momentarily uncaring of your incautious act, and look around. Florescent lights reveal some of the structure. Looked like a uh... like an office. Ok. You walk down the hall petting Kwiat in a disassociated state, until you happen past a particular room. A bathroom. You look inside, where a ghostly fluorescent flickers. It was filthy from age, but at least not from waste. Walking in, you spot a changing table, and pull it down to let Kwiat rest on it. You then wander into a stall.  The trembling sends you to your knees, as you clutch the cold porcelain sides. The scream comes first. You can't stop it. It comes, two seconds of horror expressing itself, before it wetly slides into vomit. When it ends, you stand up with mechanical slow, and walk back out. Across from you was a sink, which of course has no working water as you twist the handles. You keep twisting them. You do it until they snap off. Your hands on the counter hold you up as you keep your head lowered, and stare into the dirty white beneath you. In front of you was a great wall of night, of silver bright. Something you weren't sure you have the strength to see. Your head swims, mouth seeping puke, drool, and blood. Maybe you should. Do you? Do you gaze into that silverdark square? Do you look into the mirror? Black August fucked around with this message at 06:51 on Jan 3, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2021 06:21
|
|
|
You are so good at visceral writing, drat. Also voted to L O O K
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2021 06:38
|
|
|
voted for look. I mean, why not? maybe we'll glare the contents of the mirror into thinking twice about messing with someone fresh out of the flesh room 
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2021 06:41
|
|
|
God drat I can’t believe we managed to escape a nurgle room. Anyway, I vote NO because we have enough identity issues as it is, we don’t need our poor anxiety-filled guy to worry about not recognizing the person in the mirror.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2021 06:53
|
|
|
Look, we are the Tyrant, we cannot master others if we cannot master ourselves.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2021 09:11
|
|
|
This is almost certainly going to cost an anxiety hit, but I think it's important that our PC confront themself.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2021 09:17
|
|
|
I just want to know what our little buddy looks like, so I can picture them with something other than an @ for a head. ... I mean, assuming they don't have an @ for a head.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2021 09:30
|
|
|
know thyself king!!!
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2021 09:37
|
|
|
Should not have read that chapter during breakfast
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2021 12:40
|
|
|
I'm wondering if the mirror isn't a power/clarity of vision vs sanity/anxiety thing? Either way the choice is clear imo, we need to be able to look at ourself in the mirror! (also thanks Black August, as always this is amazing - this update had a lot of meat to it; visceral and gut wrenching in turns  )
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2021 17:00
|
|
|
You spit blood into the sink. With effort, you push up enough to raise your head...  ...and stare into the filth of the mirror.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2021 18:20
|
|
|
Despite everything, it’s still you. Just, y’know, you covered in blood as seen through a dirty mirror and a horrifying situation. You got this.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2021 23:42
|
|
|
Ha. Rather encouraging, all told. Been through hell and this is all it could do? It's not much, but there's still a light in those eyes, dim as it is. Should give Kwiat another hug.
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2021 03:05
|
|
|
pumpinglemma posted:Despite everything, it’s still you. Just, y’know, you covered in blood as seen through a dirty mirror and a horrifying situation. You got this.
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2021 03:18
|
|
|
StillFullyTerrible posted:i feel like pointing out that our character has explicitly not been gendered at any time during the game, which is another similarity with Undertale. identity is quite the question when we seem to be part "he" (i think those memories identify as a he?) and part eldrich black hole of pure ego and presently define ourself most strongly by our fanatical loyalty to our gallinaceous (this is the word i looked it up) friend
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2021 04:26
|
|
|
Is that little blue speck in our eyes the mushrooms gradually taking us over? 
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2021 04:34
|
|
|
see? i totally erased our sentient fungoid symbio-heritage, no doubt due to the hegemonizing effect of animalia-supremacist ideology!
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2021 05:04
|
|
|
Hodgepodge posted:identity is quite the question when we seem to be part "he" (i think those memories identify as a he?) and part eldrich black hole of pure ego and presently define ourself most strongly by our fanatical loyalty to our gallinaceous (this is the word i looked it up) friend We are absolutely not "he", in no place has our gender been mentioned at all. I'm non-binary (though i go by she due to finding explaining what non-binary is being more stressful than being misgendered), and I have noticed and appreciated the touch.
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2021 06:28
|
|
|
StillFullyTerrible posted:We are absolutely not "he", in no place has our gender been mentioned at all. I'm non-binary (though i go by she due to finding explaining what non-binary is being more stressful than being misgendered), and I have noticed and appreciated the touch. i'm sorry, then, i probably misattributed a "he" meant for another character to the flashback's pov amidst the sparse and confusing details. even if the flashback pov were gendered, i also wouldn't consider that identity to define our character, who very much seems to be a distinct and unique being. e: i just remembered that one of our flashbacks also seems to be from Śmiercią perspective, so even assuming our flashbacks represent a single distinct subjectivity may be misleading. Hodgepodge fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Jan 4, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2021 06:45
|
|
|
Yeah there has been a couple characters in our memories that we frequently refer to as just "he" or "him", so I can understand that.
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2021 06:48
|
|
|
StillFullyTerrible posted:Yeah there has been a couple characters in our memories that we frequently refer to as just "he" or "him", so I can understand that. not only that, but as i mentioned in the edit above, we can't really be sure if our flashbacks represent a single perspective. we couldn't even choose a single class, we've leaned into the fragmented and self-created identity themes just by being weird goons
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2021 06:56
|
|
|
Considering how glitched the game is at this point, I'm just kind of assuming our gender is "a value that is currently reading from the wrong section of memory" and changes at the whim of the game. It makes as much sense as anything else in this game.
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2021 15:18
|
|
|
Randalor posted:Considering how glitched the game is at this point, I'm just kind of assuming our gender is "a value that is currently reading from the wrong section of memory" and changes at the whim of the game. It makes as much sense as anything else in this game. True to life, then.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2021 03:15
|
|
|
His Voice Is Gentle When He Asks posted:"Hey. You need more time?" ANXIETY: [ X ][20%] You blink your eyes clear. You've been staring for a while, and only Kwiat's sudden clucking brings you out of the thoughtless quiet. Leaving the mirror feeling a little better, you head over to your chicken to hug her tight and load her up for travel. So... you left the 'Back' of the Hideout, and now you're- well, you have Kwiat with you. That's what matters. It was a good thing and a bad thing, but you'd rather she was with you than trapped back in your room while you're stranded God knows how far away. You walk back out the door, and look down the- the... uh. It had been a hall. Right? There was a hall before. But this looked like a lobby. A ground floor one. Half collapsed and moldy. Where was... where did the stairwell door go? You twist back to check, but the same bathroom was still right there. You wander out into the lobby, gun now drawn and aimed out. Checking through the glass of the front reveals a surprising vista.  The wreckage of a city, nestled and bisected into mountain stone. The empty streets and buildings are overgrown with a variety of fungus and moss, some of it so dense it was now supporting structures that otherwise look ready to fall over. It was a riot of color to behold and yyyUUUUOUUYuUUUuuuuuuuuuuu[MUSHROOM][MUSHROOM][MUSHROOM] MUSHROOM posted:YES YES HELLO YES YES Wh- MUSHROOM posted:CRUSH? CRUSH!! Ok but- MUSHROOM posted:STRANGE FUN-GUS STRANGE MUSH-ROOM NOT PLU-TO NOT PLU-TO BUT TALKING YES YES ... MUSHROOM posted:... ...what in the world did you just psychically pick up? The Silver Mind and the Dark are returned to the full of their force, alert and roused to their course. Your mushrooms flare with spores, enough to tingle as they eagerly speak their unknown tongue into the psychic ether. You peer over your shoulder at Kwiat, and puff your cheeks in aggravation. poo poo. You may as well start to ascend the tower you're in- you want to get AWAY from the (missing??) lower meat levels, but you don't want to wander out into a psychic fungus city without the chance to get to the top and see how far it goes. Basic recon sense. You turn around and check the lobby more thoroughly. Nothing useful to grab... some of the lights are on, though. Looking back out into the city reveals that there are lots of lights on, but in irregular places. You're not sure what to make of that. It does give you an option, however- poking around more reveals another stairwell, which doesn't go down, only up, starting at the lobby floor. There's also an elevator, which functions when you press the button. But which one makes more sense?
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2021 06:21
|
|
|
[PLAYER CHOICE] After escaping a strange place, you managed to find yourself in some hellish meat basement. Escaping it took you into a plain office building bathroom, but when you walked back out, the structure had changed. You're in some kind of fungal city, still partly powered somehow, and to get the lay of the land you want to ascend the tower you're in to peek from its top. But How Do You Ascend?
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2021 06:21
|
|
|
get those steps in. Good for the legs
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2021 06:48
|
|
|
I do not trust an elevator made out of meat and mushrooms.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2021 06:54
|
|
|
Do not take the elevator in an emergency.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2021 09:26
|
|
|
for some reason, i just feel protected on stairs. like some machine is pushing me along.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2021 10:15
|
|
|
The main downside of the stairs is physical exertion, and physically speaking we’re monstrously strong and tough. The main downside of the elevator is trapping us in a confined space in unknown and dangerous territory. Let’s go with the stairs.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2021 12:46
|
|
|
This mushroom seems much larger and more friendly than I expected the Fungi from Yuggoth to be.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2021 13:40
|
|
|
VOTING CLOSED - NEVER SKIP LEG DAY Elevator - 4 Stairs - 19 LOADING...  ...LOADING
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2021 18:53
|
|
|
I'm going to guess that the little snippets we've been getting from the Silver Mind/past memory? are from Kwiat's perspective. Does that make us Aitvaras? Or at least connected to him in some way?
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 02:29
|
|
|
Aitvaras seems to be the chicken-harpy boy we met on the boat -- or, rather, the original person of which the boat kid was an echo, since I get the impression a lot of what we're seeing is an echo of the pre-fall life. I do suspect that the memories are Kwiat's -- that's the only mother/child relationship we've seen mentioned so far -- but it's not impossible that we're also some sort of remnant of Kwiat, and the resurrection involves transforming us (back?) into her, which would also explain why Śmiercią hasn't just disposed of us yet. (Possibly also why it's important that we do this specifically, even though we obviously aren't equal to the task.)
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 02:37
|
|
|
you guys are aware that Mom is always in caps right? like Burner or Dancer. that's her name, she's not our mom
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 06:36
|
|
|
Funnily enough the "Smile like the Sun" part in that last flashback reminds me of the time the ![ER_INVALID] skill was used, when the singer was described with those exact same words. So it kinda looks like this character we're having flashbacks about is the Singer. The __҉_ symbol also kinda looks like a sun, so I'd assume that symbol is related to the Singer as well. Kwiat means flower, so there might be a relation between her and the sun. My theory is that there are at least two psyches in our character. The singer, who seems to be amnesiac, and the Tyrant, who doesn't look like they are. That's why the character sheet description is divided into two parts when it says: quote:In your last moments, you stood over the corpse of your first kill. When Śmiercią came to collect, you asked her to take you instead. Your hand clutched your gun, and her scythe came dớ͘w͞҉ń̡̨͘͞ ̀̕͠o̸̴҉̢n͞ ͜͟ ҉͝͞ ̵͡ ̛̛̀ ̧͞͝͡͞ ̡̧ ̛̛̛ ͞҉̀ ̧͞ ̵̵͘͟͝ ̴̴͡҉I̸̢ņ̶͝҉̨ ̷y̴͘ơ̴̢̢u̸̷̧̡͢ŕ̵͞ ́͠ļ̕ast moments, you stood in the way of the nightmare, as you watched Kwiat run up the mountain. It was already too late. Your hand clutched your sword, and the wall of night came down. The first part would be the singer, the second would be the tyrant, I think. Seems the tyrant tried to defend Kwiat against a "singing nightmare", going by the first post. Something happened and they merged. Or maybe they were always the same person and this is a case of DID or something similar. Another theory of mine is that these flashbacks we're having aren't necessarily of the past. It seems there are at least three parallel worlds (for lack of a better term). The Hell End, where most of the game takes place into. The Dark End, where the dead Dwarf King spoke to us. And the Holy End, seen after the end of the Camp quest. Neither the Dark nor the Holy End can be accessed by normal means as far as we've seen, only by glitching. Notably, these parallel worlds seem to be occurring concurrently. We don't know much about Dark End, but the main point of divergence between Hell and Holy End seems to be an event named "the Fall". Maybe these flashbacks don't reflect the past, but rather the version of events happening in the Holy End. Or maybe they recount what happened before the Fall. Or maybe, since this last flashback is talking about a "dark past" where everything is ugly before "the Awakening", what these flashbacks are really showing is the future. Maybe the Awakening is a way to move to Holy End, and performing that ritual is the real victory condition. (Also, uh, hey, first post in the forum! Been lurking for a few years but this thread was pretty good so I wanted to comment on some things. Hope I didn't gently caress up anything). Grond fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Jan 6, 2021 |
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 18:11
|
|
|
That's some excellent speculation and a good first post.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 19:52
|
|
|
StillFullyTerrible posted:That's some excellent speculation and a good first post. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 19:54
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 5, 2024 12:17 |
|
|
Thank you again to everyone reading and picking this up now, I'm glad you're enjoying the story and speculation. Wanted to let you know updates may see a delay, I need a day or two to deal with some medical fallout from the oral surgery. As an aside, I will spoil for clarity's sake that the setting is not inside the Hell End, but as the World King said, it's the 'Dark End'. The Hell End is both the title and a concept that hasn't been seen/defined yet.
|
|
#
?
Jan 6, 2021 20:07
|
|